Still Hurting
by PhoenixFire Lia
Summary: I wrote this right after watching Saturday's eps, so it's kinda short. Love can keep living when the person you love dies, can't it?


~Still Hurting~

Tears flowed from her brilliant blue eyes, a river racing down her cheeks. They fell onto the wooden floor in tiny droplets, forming crystalline puddles. She sighed piteously, and with a free hand removed her left glove and shook it gently. A scrap of fabric the color of midnight fluttered out of it, and she held it in her open palm, staring at it. 

"This is all I have left of you, my friend. This, and my memories. I never even got to tell you how I felt…I never even really got to say goodbye," she murmured. She didn't know how much more pain she could take. The scars on her hands would never heal, they would always be there as a reminder of the abuse and torment she received as a child. But the pain ran much deeper, and at the core of the hurt and anguish was the fact that she had watched her best friend's life taken in an instant. She could still hear his voice, still see those green eyes peering into her soul and understanding. 

_I don't have any regrets. If I hadn't met you, my life would have had no meaning. I'm glad you and I were friends. Thank you, for everything, Gatomon. _His dying words. 

"Wizardmon…" she sighed, sliding the fabric back into her glove. She couldn't stay in this apartment any longer; the silence was unbearable, as was Miko. But she couldn't leave, not when Kari would be home so soon. To stay or to go, what a dilemma. 

Just then the dresser drawers began rattling in their frames. The curtains fluttered, despite the fact that the windows were tightly shut. The floorboards creaked, the door swung on its hinges. A lamp sitting on Kari's desk tipped over. It hit the ground with a thud, but remained unbroken and on. The light cast Gatomon's shadow on the wall behind her, but soon the shadow twisted and metamorphosed into something far different. And from that wall stepped a figure, clothed in a swirling light yet plainly recognizable to Gatomon. She gasped and fell backwards, catching herself just in time. 

"Wizardmon?!"

"Hello, Gatomon," he murmured, attempting a smile from behind his high collar. 

"Please, please tell me you've found a way to come back to me."

"I wish that were the case, Gatomon, but no."

"It's not fair!" she sobbed. "I love you! I don't want to live through all nine of my lives without you beside me!" 

"I'm so sorry, Gatomon. I…I love you as well, but it's pointless if we do this to ourselves because it'll only hurt us all the more."

"I know, but I don't want to lose you all over again."

Wizardmon nodded a little, then pulled something from the air. It glimmered as it had the first day Gatomon had seen it, and even after all these years it hadn't changed a bit. The staff that had once belonged to Wizardmon.

"This was given to me right after…well, you know. I couldn't do much with it, seeing as I'm no longer able to hold it exactly. I want you to have it, Gatomon. Let it remind you that light surpasses all darkness, and no matter how black the night there will always be a brightness in your heart."

Gatomon took the staff and held it close, fighting back tears. 

"Gatomon, I don't have much time left. I have to get back to where I belong, and you must fulfill your destiny."

"I understand. Will you wait for me?"

"I will wait for all eternity, if I must. Ai shiteru."

Gatomon nodded and watched as he vanished, leaving her alone again. She longed to cry out in protest, but her voice was muted by the sobs that wracked her tiny frame. She clutched the staff close to her, weeping uncontrollably. Wizardmon had come back to tell her he loved her. He had already given her everything in life, his heart, his trust, his life, and now he had given her the promise of waiting until that day when they would be reunited. 

"Gatomon, what's wrong?" Kari asked as she walked in, noticing her tears. 

"Oh, oh, it's nothing. Really, Kari, I'm fine. I went into Tai's room and the smell of his dirty laundry made my eyes water," Gatomon lied. 

"I bet. Hey, where'd you get…" Kari paused, realizing just what it was Gatomon was holding tightly against her body. 

"Ai shiteru, Wizardmon. You are always in my heart, dear one."

_You won't have to be in my heart for long, though. I will find a way to bring you back, this I vow. I love you too much to just give up and let go. The day I can feel your touch and be in your arms again is the day I stop hurting, Wizardmon. And until that day I will never stop hurting. _

Author's Note: I know, it was short and kinda weird. I got the idea after watching "Ghost of a Chance" a.k.a. "Odaiba Memorial" for the fifth time (I taped it). If you want to flame it, please, flame gently because I'm very sensitive and if you make me cry Yamato will throw a conniption fit, hunt you down and hurt you severely. 


End file.
